Dell DX6000 User manual

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Dell DX Object Storage – File Gateway Architectural Reference
Page ii
Release
Version Date Details Modifie
r
Released By
0.01 12/8/2010 Initial draft Ron Stefani Not Released
0.02 12/14/2010 Sizing Guidelines added Ron Stefani Not Released
THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL
ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR
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December 2010

Dell DX Object Storage – File Gateway Architectural Reference
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Contents
Scope of this Document................................................................................................ 3
Overview ................................................................................................................. 3
Standard hardware...................................................................................................... 3
Specific CFS Configurations............................................................................................ 4
Single-server Configuration......................................................................................... 4
Hardware............................................................................................................ 4
Network ............................................................................................................. 4
Failover Configuration............................................................................................... 5
Hardware............................................................................................................ 5
Network ............................................................................................................. 6
Gateway Protocols ................................................................................................... 6
Other hardware....................................................................................................... 7
Software ............................................................................................................... 7
DX Object CFS Processes............................................................................................... 8
Standard DX Object Storage Cluster............................................................................... 8
DX Object Storage File Gateway (single-server) ................................................................ 9
DX Object Storage File Gateway (Failover) ..................................................................... 10
Sizing Guidelines .......................................................................................................11
Availability ...........................................................................................................11
Number of Clients...................................................................................................11
Amount of External Storage .......................................................................................11

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Scope of this Document
This document provides an overview of the Dell DX Object Storage CFS Gateway solution and lists the
hardware and software components that are used in the solution.
For more detailed information about deploying this solution or any of its components, see
support.dell.com.
Overview
The Dell DX Object Storage platform, initially released in May 2010, integrates applications via native
HTTP writes. The DX Object Storage Gateway solution extends access to DX Object Storage by adding a
file system interface that supports Windows & UNIX clients.
The interface is provided by CIFS/NFS software that runs on a PowerEdge R410 server. In the Gateway
solution this is called the Cluster File Server (CFS), and it provides a file system interface that enables
customers to write files to DX Object Storage as they would any other file system. The write to the DX
Object Storage system is indirect, however, as the files temporarily reside in spool cache on the CFS
server or on a shared storage device.
In a single-server Gateway solution, data objects are written to a spool that is on the CFS and then
moved to a storage node in the DX Object Storage cluster once the write is complete; in a failover
configuration, the files are written to a Dell PowerVault MD3200i storage system, which persists the
data in the event that a CFS fails. See “Specific CFS Configurations” for more details.
Standard hardware
The following briefly describes the standard hardware components of DX Object Storage Gateway
solutions. In most cases, none of these components are yet installed at the customer site.
Cluster File Server (CFS) – This server hosts the file server software that presents the Dell DX
Object Storage system as a standard file system. In single-server solutions, this server also
provides a spool cache on local disk.
Cluster Services Node (CSN) – This node is the head of the DX Object Storage systems and
hosts the services that run on the cluster, such as cluster services, storage services, and
content router (if applicable). It is not used for data storage.
Storage Nodes – These nodes host data that is indirectly written to them by application servers
(via the spool cache). A minimum of two nodes is required, and each data object has at least
one replica.
Shared Storage System – Shared storage is a cache where files are stored before they get
written to the DX Object Storage and also where they can be accessed on subsequent reads, if
locally available. A separate shared storage system, such as the MD3200i is required for failover
solutions. In these types of solutions, if the gateway server fails over to another gateway
server, the common spool cache is still available to either write its data to the storage nodes,
or serve data to clients.

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Specific CFS Configurations
CFS configurations front-end a DX Object Storage cluster that has a CSN and at least two storage nodes.
There are two types of CFS configurations offered – single server (no failover) and high availability
(failover). A failover solution is recommended in environments that require high performance and/or
have large file system configurations.
Single-server Configuration
The minimal CFS configuration is a single CFS server the uses internal storage for storing the spooled
data and namespace. This configuration is recommended when CFS failover is not required and when
the spooled data and namespace capacity requirements are less than 1TB.
Hardware
(1) PowerEdge R410 server
oChassis: Up to four Hot-Plug Hard Drives, LCD diagnostics
oProcessor(s): 2 x E5620, 2.4GHz 12M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Mem
oMemory Configuration: 24GB Memory (6x4GB), 1066MHz Dual Ranked RDIMMs for
Processors, Optimized
oHDD Configuration: RAID1/RAID1 hard drive configuration
oHard Drives:
(2) 500GB 7.2K RPM Near-Line SAS 3.5in HDD for OS and application
(2) 1TB 7.2K RPM Near-Line SAS 3.5in HDD for spooled data and namespace
oPrimary Controller: SAS 6.iR SAS internal RAID adapter for Hot Plug Configuration, PCI-
Express
oPSU: 500Watt Redundant power supplies
oEmbedded Management: iDRAC6 Enterprise
oNetwork Adapter: Broadcom NetXtreme II 5709 Gigabit NIC w/TOE & iSOE, Quad Port,
Copper, PCIe-4
oDVD-ROM Drive
oOperating System: RHEL 6 X64 Basic with 3 Year Subscription
Network
The CFS server is configured with one Broadcom dual port BCM 5716 controller and one Broadcom quad
port NetExtreme II 5709 GbE controller for a total of six GbE ports. The recommended network port
allocation for a single CFS configuration is:
Connect NIC ports 0 and 1 to the CIFS/NFS network.
Connect NIC ports 3 thru 5 to the DX Storage Cluster network.

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Failover Configuration
The failover configuration allows CFS servers to be deployed in pairs so that if one server fails, the
share can be recovered by the other CFS server to minimize recovery time. In this configuration, the
CFS servers utilize iSCSI storage to store spooled data.
Hardware
This configuration consists of the following hardware:
(2) PowerEdge R410 servers
oChassis: Up to four Hot-Plug Hard Drives, LCD diagnostics
oProcessor(s): 2 x E5620, 2.4GHz 12M Cache, Turbo, HT, 1066MHz Max Mem
oMemory Configuration: 24GB Memory (6x4GB), 1066MHz Dual Ranked RDIMMs for
Processors, Optimized
oHDD Configuration: RAID 1 configuration; internal drives in RAID 1 for OS and
application; spooled data and namespace stored on iSCSI
oPrimary Controller: SAS 6.iR SAS internal RAID adapter for Hot Plug Configuration, PCI-
Express
oHard Drives: (2) 500GB 7.2K RPM Near-Line SAS 3.5in HDD
oPSU: 500Watt Redundant power supplies
oEmbedded Management: iDRAC6 Enterprise
oNetwork Adapter: Broadcom NetXtreme II 5709 Gigabit NIC w/TOE & iSOE, Quad Port,
Copper, PCIe-4
oDVD-ROM Drive
oOperating System: RHEL 6 X64 Basic with 3 Year Subscription
(1) iSCSI Storage: MD3200i
o Controllers: Single or Dual controller options
o Hard Drives: Up to 12 3.5in HDD with the following HDD options
-500GB near-line SAS 6GB, 7.2K, 3.5in HDD
-300GB SAS 6GB, 15K, 3.5in HDD
-450GB SAS 6GB, 15K, 3.5in HDD
-600GB SAS 6GB, 15K, 3.5in HDD
-2TB near-line SAS 6GB, 7.2K, 3.5in HDD
o HDD Configuration: RAID5

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Network
For a failover CFS configuration, the iSCSI storage can be on its own switch isolated from the DX
Storage Cluster or it can be attached to the DX Cluster network. In cases where iSCSI storage is
attached to the DX Cluster network, then ports 2 thru 5 can be shared between the iSCSI storage and
DX Storage Cluster. In this configuration, it is recommended to configure network ports for adaptive
load balancing. Sites that have suitable competence may prefer configuration and management of link
aggregation control protocol in place of adaptive load balancing.
The preferred failover network configuration is identical to that shown for a single-server CFS
configuration (above), except that iSCSI traffic will share the four NIC ports that go to the private DX
Storage network. If a site wishes to use pre-existing iSCSI storage that is available on its own VLAN,
then the recommended network port allocation is:
Connect NIC ports 0 and 1 to the CIFS/NFS network.
Connect NIC ports 2 and 3 to the DX Storage Cluster network.
Connect NIC ports 4 and 5 to the iSCSI Storage network.
Gateway Protocols
The CFS can be configured for NFS or SMB/CIFS gateways. For SMB/CIFS, users and groups can access
the system through standalone authentication, or if Active Directory Services exists, users and groups
can be authenticated through the existing ADS structure. For NFS, Dell supports version 3 only; it does
not support version 4.

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Other hardware
The following briefly describes the hardware components that are required to work as part of DX
Object Storage Gateway solutions. They may already be present in the customer environment, or
ordered as part of the solution.
Network Switch(es) – Configuring the solution requires extensive knowledge of how the
customer uses switches to segment VLANs. Some customers may run each VLAN through a
separate switch, and some may segment a switch for multiple VLANs.
Application Server(s) – These servers write data to the spool cache storage in the Gateway
solution. In a non-gateway DX Object Storage solution, they write directly to the storage nodes.
Domain Controller – This server manages logins, authentication, groups and permissions.
Domain controller information is an essential part of setting up a gateway solution.
Software
The following briefly describes the standard software components for DX Object Storage Gateway
solutions.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux – This is the operating system that resides on the Cluster Services
Node and the CFS Server. Different versions may run on the CFS Server and the CSN. See the
interoperability matrix for information about versions.
CFS – This is the software on the CFS Server that presents Dell DX Object Storage to clients as a
common file system.
Cluster Services – These services reside on the CSN and enable you to configure the CSN,
define user access, set parameters for backup and restore, and define SCSP Proxy settings.
Content Storage – These services reside on the CSN and enable you to define properties,
licensing, and user access for the whole cluster.
Content Router – These services provide replication of content between remote clusters and
enumeration of DX Object Storage content for other purposes like search indexing or virus
scanning. Content Router is not required if the cluster is not replicating to a remote cluster.

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DX Object CFS Processes
The data flow in a DX Object Storage File Gateway depends on the type of configuration. The following
examples show, a standard DX Object Storage cluster (for reference purposes), a DX Object Storage
cluster with a single-server gateway, and a DX Object Storage cluster with a failover gateway.
Standard DX Object Storage Cluster
In a basic, standalone DX Object Storage cluster (see Figure 1), an application server writes a data
object directly to a storage node, and the Cluster Services on the CSN refers to its configuration
settings and then tells the object how many times it must replicate.
Figure 1. Standalone DX Object Storage Cluster
Storage Node
Application Server
Write
Replicate
Storage Node
Cluster Services Node
Cluster Services
Storage Services

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DX Object Storage File Gateway (single-server)
In a DX Object Storage File Gateway, data objects are written to a CFS server before being written to a
Storage Node. In this configuration, the application server and clients are actually viewing objects as
they reside in the spool cache of the CFS server. These objects are presented to the end user as part of
a file system.
Figure 2. DX Object Storage File Gateway (single-server)

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DX Object Storage File Gateway (Failover)
A failover configuration (see Figure 3) provides two CFS servers and a separate dedicated spool/cache.
This configuration provides continuous service on the gateway, as long as the cluster and the shared
storage are running.
Figure 3. DX Object Storage File Gateway (Failover)
Storage Node
Application Server
Replicate
Storage Node
Cluster Services Node
CFS Server (Failover)
Cluster Services
Storage Services
CFS Server (Primary)
Shared Storage (Spool/Cache)

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Sizing Guidelines
When selecting a DX Object Storage CFS Gateway solution, the following factors should be considered.
Availability
Whether to choose a single-server solution or a failover solution depends on how mission-critical the
data is (in terms of downtime).
Single server is a simple configuration that allows clients to write through CIFS/NFS allowing
the namespace and spooled data to be stored on internal storage. The spooled data is
protected through RAID 1. However, if a CFS server failure occurs, the server must be
recovered with access to the internal storage to recover the spooled data.
Failover configurations utilize iSCSI storage for the namespace and spooled data. The spooled
data is stored on external shared storage, allowing the data to be recovered by another CFS
server. This configuration is recommended for mission critical applications because it reduces
the time the data is not available during a CFS failure condition. The tradeoff is that
performance for a failover configuration is expected to be less than half the performance of a
single-server configuration with internal storage.
Number of Clients
A CFS server can support up to eight shares and a maximum of 250 CIFS or NFS connections, assuming
that approximately 10 percent of the connections are active at any given time.
Amount of External Storage
When sizing the external storage for a failover solution, use the following requirements for each share:
The namespace requires up to 10GB
Spooled data should have space allocated that is twice the size of the largest file written to
the DX Object Storage, plus the expected daily file volume, or a minimum of 300GB for cached
data.